Successfully dealing with trolls and negativity in your community

[Cedric]

An issue that we've all likely encountered at some point: dealing with trolls in the online community. Trolls can spread negativity, cause conflict, and disrupt the overall atmosphere of the forum. So, how do we best handle these individuals and maintain a positive community?

Here are a few tips that have helped me in dealing with trolls:

• Remain calm and professional when responding to negative comments
• Avoid engaging with trolls and instead focus on addressing the issue they raise
• Use moderation tools to delete harmful or inappropriate comments and ban users if necessary
• Encourage positive behavior by rewarding members who contribute in a constructive way
• Continuously monitor the community for signs of negativity and address them promptly

It's important to remember that trolls are looking for a reaction, so by remaining calm and professional, we can take away their power and maintain a positive environment for the rest of the community.

What are your thoughts and experiences in dealing with trolls in the online community? Let's work together to create a safe and positive space for all members.

 

[Arantor]

I experimented with a bunch of extra solutions in Wedge - they weren't suitable for all communities but they certainly had a place.

Essentially, my thinking was that to get rid of trolls, you need to annoy them juuuuuust enough until they get the hint and go off of their own accord. This is the same basic idea as discouragement in XF, but I tried a few more specific things, where you could soft-modify their posts in an automated way, such that they'd be ignored by the population at large.

Consider, if you had a problem member who, for whatever reason, kept posting and it wasn't quite enough to delete or ban, but you had the option to disemvowel - to remove all the vowels. It's still *readable*, for the most part, But it's enough effort that the rest of the community will tend to ignore the outlier, and after a while of not getting reactions, they'll move on - without any of the duplicity of shadowbanning. There's no pretence here, people with this applied to their account have it visible to everyone (I think, I don't entirely remember, it was a decade ago)

For comparison, the first line from Aerodynamic's post above, with the disemvowel filter applied:

n ss tht w'v ll lkly ncntrd t sm pnt: dlng wth trlls n th nln cmmnty. Trlls cn sprd ngtvty, cs cnflct, nd dsrpt th vrll tmsphr f th frm. S, hw d w bst hndl ths ndvdls nd mntn pstv cmmnty?

As you can see, it's readable - with some effort - so people don't. Trolls in the classic sense (not just a regular who's disgruntled about something) tend to be about getting a reaction and this curbs the amount of reaction they're going to get.

The other variation I had was Scramble - based off the meme that went around where you leave the first and last letters of a word in place and mix up the rest. Result, it's still readable, with effort. Both of these methods applied during the bbcode render step so it was never permanent and could be undone at no effort, at any time.

 

[Cedric]

I was about to mention XF's discouragement, but I feel that is too softly configured. A few 'hick ups' won't make a troll leave. A troll dislikes being humiliated in public eyes. Which is what your method is good for, @Arantor so I definitely like that approach.

 

[Nomad]

I knew about the word troll, in the context of the internet, when I was trolled in 2013 in a forum. I reacted and the fight became fierce. It became unbearable and I stopped visiting the forum. Later, I knew trolls are actually looking for reactions and by reacting to their posts, you are giving them reasons to become fierce. The only way to stop this is by not reacting.

 

[Arantor]

In addition to the above mentioned disemvowelling, I'm now wondering whether https://szymszl.xyz/things/timesnewbastard as an option might be an interesting deterrent for people - converting posts into something that's just annoying enough to be annoying to read.

 

[Mamberroi Jr]

I was about to mention XF's discouragement, but I feel that is too softly configured. A few 'hick ups' won't make a troll leave. A troll dislikes being humiliated in public eyes. Which is what your method is good for, @Arantor so I definitely like that approach.

Regarding the Trolls one of the most feasible ways is as you say the discouragement of XF. We also have the option of creating an exclusive Group to help identify them. And as a last resort blocking your IP access from the PCA or fileAnd as a last resort blocking your access IP from the PCA or .htaccess file

 

[~ True Legend ~]

Regarding the Trolls one of the most feasible ways is as you say the discouragement of XF. We also have the option of creating an exclusive Group to help identify them. And as a last resort blocking your IP access from the PCA or fileAnd as a last resort blocking your access IP from the PCA or .htaccess file

I think it immature to F with users like that. What if they post a thread about it or PM users asking about it? Eventually it’ll come to light. Especially if they don’t encounter the issue logged out or on another IP address. Just makes you look immature really.

Maybe mod queue and disable PMs and don’t even inform the user of this. That way it’s not punishment but just a preemptive measure. Use manual admin approval on new accounts if you need. That will deter trolls.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I had to deal with trolls once on my Mighty No. 9 forum. I didn't really handle it too well, but thankfully I had a awesome staff team that helped me out with the trolls. Now that I'm older, I know what to do if I have to deal with trolls again.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I had to deal with trolls once on my Mighty No. 9 forum. I didn't really handle it too well, but thankfully I had a awesome staff team that helped me out with the trolls. Now that I'm older, I know what to do if I have to deal with trolls again.

How did your staff deal with it and how would you deal with it if it were to occur again?
I say "don't feed the trolls" is the ideal, but that's hard to do.

 

[Ravenfreak]

How did your staff deal with it and how would you deal with it if it were to occur again?
I say "don't feed the trolls" is the ideal, but that's hard to do.

They helped me ban a bunch of accounts that happened to join. I made the mistake of forgetting to turn on email approval for new accounts. They also helped calm me down because I was freaking out over the influx of trolls. Now I wouldn't freak out that's for sure lol. I would just do what I did back then, ban IP addresses and would turn on admin approval until things cool down.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

They helped me ban a bunch of accounts that happened to join. I made the mistake of forgetting to turn on email approval for new accounts. They also helped calm me down because I was freaking out over the influx of trolls. Now I wouldn't freak out that's for sure lol. I would just do what I did back then, ban IP addresses and would turn on admin approval until things cool down.

Agreed. I don't recommend banning IP's though as most are dynamic so you may end up banning legitimate members.